331 trans and gender diverse people have been killed in 2019.
I also happen to be trans and I have transgender friends and acquaintances. The model in the photo is a transgender girl who cannot afford to go outside wearing makeup and dresses. She had to prepare for the photo session on-site so that none of the passers-by or acquaintances would see her clothes and cosmetics. Every day, we face or risk facing transphobia. We’re living in constant fear of being resented, ridiculed, misunderstood or attacked.
When I, a transgender person, am not visible, and people don’t know anything about me or people like me, they begin to think of me as of someone else. There are people who've never heard anything about trans and androgynous people. They listen to me and ask questions in amazement. Yet sometimes I'm happy that people can't always understand who I am right away. Sometimes this can even protect me from aggression, because radically-minded people are intentionally harassing non-heteronormative people and virtually anyone who might arouse their suspicions. However, when seeking employment, you can't avoid being "out". They will ask me all these questions, pretend that they support me, but there won't be a place for me anyway. For most people, I'm still too weird. I'm still too peculiar. People don’t want to hire me, "regular" folks don’t want to approach me with romantic intentions. Yes, they tell me that I'm good-looking, interesting, talented, smart, but too unusual, that they don't work with people like me, that they feel kind of uncomfortable to communicate with me closely like with "ordinary" guys and girls. I'm grateful to those people and friends who are by my side, but I’m also encountering everything else, and much more often than I would like.
If you're experiencing the same difficulties in life now or have gone through such period in your lives, I wish you strength and good people on your road. Never give up, and I 'm glad if you' ve already succeeded. Let's inspire each other and the world with our achievements and personal victories!
